1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system integrally controlling a plurality of chip mounters that are independently operated, and an operating method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surface mount technology (SMT) generally refers to printing solder paste on a printed circuit board (PCB), installing various surface mount devices (SMD) using mounting equipment, and connecting the PCB and leads of the SMDs using a reflow device.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of a general SMT line system. A loader 110 is a device to automatically supply a PCB such as from a magazine. A screen printer 120 is a device to coat solder paste at part installation positions on the surface of the PCB that is supplied by the loader 110. A chip mounter 130 is a device to arrange and fix various parts and chips at a location on the PCB where the solder paste is coated. The chip mounter 130 may include at least one chip mounter, that is, there may be a plurality of chip mounters 131, 132, and 133, according to the structure thereof.
Although it is not shown in the drawing, each of the chip mounters 131, 132, and 133 includes a part feeder, a head unit, a suction nozzle, and a camera. First, the suction nozzle of the head unit sucks and picks up a part from the part feeder. To accurately check the suction state and the center position of a part, the head unit moves over the camera, which checks the suction state and the center position of the part. When the check is complete, the part is rotated at an accurate angle to the correct installation position and installed on the PCB.
The reflow oven 140 heats and melts the solder paste under the parts, which were installed on the PCB by the chip mounter 130, and fixes the parts on the PCB through a cooling process. The unloader 150 unloads and accommodates each complete PCB.
As described above, the PCB is produced through the SMT line system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustrates the detailed configuration of a control module of the chip mounter 130 of the SMT line system. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the chip mounters 131, 132, and 133 includes a mounting driving unit 134, a user interface (I/F) 138 having a database 137 containing part related data, and a display 139. The mounting driving unit 134 includes a mechanical module 135 and a control unit 136 controlling the mechanical module 135.
Each chip mounter 131, 132, or 133 is independently operated according to the types of parts to be installed or according to whether the parts are to be installed on a single side PCB or a double-sided PCB. To operate the chip mounters 131, 132, and 133, while watching the display unit 139, an operator inputs a work order to the control unit 136 through the user interface 138. Then, the control unit 136 operates the mechanical module 135 according to the work order input by the operator.
When the SMT line system includes three chip mounters as shown in FIG. 1, an operator separately operates each chip mounter to perform an individual work order because each chip mounter operates independently. Thus, when an error occurs in any one chip mounter, the other chip mounters cannot recognize the problem.
Furthermore, when a job change situation occurs, e.g., when the present work order is completed and a new work order is to begin, the operations of all three chip mounters are stopped and the operator accesses each chip mounter and inputs individual new work orders to re-operate the three chip mounters. Thus, a lot of work preparation time is needed so that productivity deteriorates.